


Did you miss me?

by squire



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Crack, F/M, Gen, Humour, Unrepentant 'verse, birthday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2015-04-05
Packaged: 2018-03-17 02:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3511820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squire/pseuds/squire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of Unrepentant, there is no plane to take Sherlock away from those he loves. </p><p>Which only means that Moriarty's return interrupts a very, very different event...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Did you miss me?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ariane_DeVere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ariane_DeVere/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Unrepentant](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2176728) by [squire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/squire/pseuds/squire). 



> Many thanks to SwissMiss for helping me with this little surprise.

“Scrabble? _Really_?”

“Well, it’s this, or–”

“No, Quentin, I’m not playing strip poker with you, never ever again,” Ariane said sternly as she drew her lot of letters from the offered bag.

Well. One E, shame, O twice, a helpless couple of Ps, R and S. She arranged the letters in front of her and bit her lip in thought. Aside from the obvious ROSE, ROPE and EPOS that weren’t exactly impressive words.... hah, SORE POP. But collocations weren’t in the rules, and she wasn’t sure if onomatopoeic words were.

The microwave in the kitchen beeped and she got up, mulling over the possible combinations in her head. When she returned to the table a moment later she nearly dropped her cup of hot cocoa.

“You’re cheating!”

Quentin leaned away innocently as if he wasn’t fiddling with her lot right then, and she went around to take a look–

 Quentin’s phone rang.

“Sorry,” he sighed. With a little wave to indicate that no, she didn’t mind, Ariane plopped into her chair and grabbed the remote.

She didn’t really pay attention to what came on the telly, ears straining to pick on the half-conversation echoing from her kitchen.

“What broadcast? Every screen? But how...? Oh, great. Understood. Yes, I do. Does _he_? I can imagine. No, I’ve got a car here. Bye.” 

...

 _There goes our board games date,_ Ariane thought. Ended the same way as their theatre date, and their last dinner date, not to mention that promising-turned-disastrous Cumbria trip back in September. Dating an MI-6 agent was possibly her second worst idea ever.

Then she noticed the TV and she did drop the cocoa this time.

“Sorry, love.” Quentin, his jacket on, appeared in the doorway.

“National security. I know.” She really did, and perhaps better than he thought she did, even though it sometimes seemed that he had a pretty good idea about that. He kissed her briefly and let himself out.

Ariane sighed, switched off the loop of Moriarty’s face on the telly, and went to the bathroom to save what she could of her skirt. Then, with more sighing, she went to clear away the Scrabble board.

That was when she was suddenly grateful that there wasn’t any more cocoa to spill.

On her side of the table, her letters were arranged into a brand new, seven-letter word. She frowned, collecting the letters. Something clinked softly inside the bag, as if something made of metal...

Ariane emptied the contents of the bag onto the tabletop and stared at the forgotten engagement ring, shaking her head in quiet despair. If there ever was a reason to hate that Irish bastard....

**Author's Note:**

> For those unfamiliar with my work, Quentin is an original character from my fic Unrepentant and quite possibly the ultimate undoing of my faithful and amazing beta Ariane DeVere. 
> 
> In the aftermath of the events of Unrepentant, Quentin is sent by MI6 to seduce certain Miss DeVere and extract important information from her. It is my headcanon that she uses her charm and wits to seduce him back and eventually ends up recruited by the Secret Service...
> 
> Please nobody tell me that it's bad fandom etiquette to ship your OC and your best friend. 
> 
> It would seem that Ariane and I live in each other's head. I thought I was very clever back in January when I wrote down this little surprise fic including an anagram as a nut for my friend to crack. Imagine my disbelieving face when, on my own birthday in March, I opened my inbox to find Ariane had written me a birthday fic with an acrostich. 
> 
> Happy birthday, Ari! I hope this lives up to your legacy of clever twists. And your fondness of double-221Bs.


End file.
